


One Phone Call

by DemyxDancer



Series: Professionals [6]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Connie Deserves Love and Support, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Homeworld is Horrible, Zircon is a Crystal Gem, Zircon is more Phoenix Wright than usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22980166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemyxDancer/pseuds/DemyxDancer
Summary: Connie sits in a Homeworld holding cell. She has been framed for murder.
Relationships: Crystal Gems & Connie Maheswaran
Series: Professionals [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573660
Comments: 138
Kudos: 70





	One Phone Call

**Author's Note:**

> This story uses Professionals headcanons, but it is a standalone what-if.

Her holding cell was blindingly pink and a little colder than she would like it. Connie drew her knees into her chest and tried not to panic. Just an hour ago she had been on a tour of a remote colony with a friendly Gem guide -- the span of time in which she was arrested and thrown into prison on Homeworld was hazy in her mind, as though it couldn’t possibly be real.

She had asked for Steven, and been rejected. Prisoners weren’t allowed to just request an audience with a Diamond. She had asked to contact the Crystal Gems with a message, and that had also been rejected. Homeworld had no concept of giving a suspect one phone call. She had requested the Crystal Gems’ Zircon as her defense attorney, and  _ that _ had been accepted -- under the Era 3 reforms, defendants were allowed to choose a Zircon if they wished.

So, that was her primary hope at the moment: Zircs would see the case and tell the others, and they’d come riding to her rescue. 

She hated it. She hated feeling helpless and alone. She had learned to swordfight, taught herself to read Gemglyph, and educated herself about everything in Gem culture, all to make herself useful and not burden her friends. None of that was helping her now.

After all these years, a small part of her still feared: What if they don’t really care about her? What if they drop her as soon as she’s no longer sufficiently useful? What if these strange, powerful alien beings never really were her friends?

What if Zircs rejected her request and left her to go on trial in front of the Diamonds alone?

She would never.

But what if she did?

A door slid open, and Connie scrambled to her feet. It was a Blue Zircon, but Connie’s heart sank -- it was not her friend from Little Homeworld, but a stranger.

“So you’re my next client,” said the Zircon, her voice filled with exhaustion. It was so similar, eerily familiar, but not the same. “Well, I’ve looked over your case, and I’m sorry to say this is going to be a real uphill battle.”

Connie fought her panic down. “I’m sorry, but I requested a specific attorney. Do you know where she is?”

The Zircon flipped some pages on her projected screen. “Unfortunately for you, it says here your request was rejected. That’s why they assigned me. What, I’m not good enough for you? You’re in big trouble, you know. You’d better take what you can get.”

The Zircon continued to talk, but Connie couldn’t hear what she was saying. Her head was spinning too much. 

Rejected.

It couldn’t be happening.

What now?

* * *

Her public defender had left over an hour ago, and Connie had nothing to do but to turn the situation over and over again in her mind.

Why would Zircon have rejected her request? The same Zircon who had cheerfully helped her out with her college applications, the one she routinely cat-sit for, the one she exchanged book recommendations and Solstice presents with -- there was simply no way that Zircs was going to leave her high and dry on  _ murder charges. _

Even if Zircs had done that, what would the rest of the Crystal Gems think when they found out? What would Steven think? 

It didn’t make any sense. Some Homeworld Gem had interfered, probably the same Gem who was framing her in the first place. That was a far more likely scenario. 

At least, that’s what she kept telling herself, because the alternative -- that none of the Crystal Gems cared about her impending trial and potential execution -- was far too horrible for her to process. 

Regardless, she had no way of contacting Earth. Her phone couldn’t make calls off-planet. Her assigned Zircon had been no help at all and didn’t seem to even understand why it was so critical for Connie to get a message out. It was all Connie could do to restrain her anger. Unfortunately, this useless defender might be the only Gem on her side, so she couldn’t afford to be too harsh.

If things went badly tomorrow, she could die without ever knowing if the Crystal Gems even knew where she was.

The door slid open, and a blue Gem entered. Connie was in no mood to see her public defender again, but she didn't have much of a choice. She raised her head from where it was buried in her knees.

“Connie?!” 

Before Connie realized what was happening, Zircon knelt down next to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Stars, Connie, what happened? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“Zircs!” Connie could barely keep herself from sobbing in relief as she returned the lawyer’s hug. “You came! They told me you rejected my request, and --”

“Of course I didn’t reject it! You know I’d never do that, right?” Zircon held Connie by the shoulders. “The request never reached me. I only found out about it because 4PY happened to stop me in the hallway. She thought it was awfully strange that I had refused to represent a human in court. Thankfully, she agreed to transfer your case to me right away.”

Connie furrowed her brows. “Someone didn’t want you to know.”

“I’d wager that someone didn’t want any of the Crystal Gems to know,” said Zircon. “Well, good news! It’s too late for that now. I warped right back to Little Homeworld and told everyone what was happening before coming here.”

“So Steven…?”

“He’s off the grid right now, but Lapis went to fetch him. Hopefully, he can talk some sense into the Diamonds before this goes to trial tomorrow. If not, well, that’s why I’m here.”

“Okay,” said Connie, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“I gave the relevant case files to Peridot -- we might need her technical expertise to work out what actually happened. Pearl wanted to visit you, of course. She asked me to tell you to be brave, and that you’re ‘strong in the real way.’”

Connie’s eyes filled with tears. “Pearl said that?”

“I wish she could have told you that herself. Unfortunately, because of the severity of the charges, only your lawyer is allowed in your cell,” said Zircon. “So it’s just going to be me.”

“That’s okay. I’m really glad to see you.”

“I’m glad to see you too! Well, not  _ here. _ You know what I mean.” Zircon gave her a sad smile. “Oh, Peridot thought you might need something to boost your morale. Let me see if I can take it out of my gem without spilling.”

“Spilling…?” asked Connie, as Zircon pulled a paper cup and a small plastic container out of her gem.

“It’s from Spacetries,” Zircon explained. “Rhodonite assured us that this is what you like to order.”

The smell of warm coffee filled the holding cell. Connie looked down at the cheerful purple ube roll. The sudden turnaround from apparent abandonment to the Crystal Gems dropping everything to help her was too much. She couldn’t keep her composure a second longer. She carefully put down the coffee and pastry and began to ugly sob into her hands.

“Connie?!” said Zircon, alarmed.

“I’ll be okay,” she managed between sobs. “It’s just… it’s a lot.”

Zircon put an arm around her. “We’re going to get you out of this. We just need to figure out how. If all else fails, I think everyone’s prepared to fight even the Diamonds if they try to lay a hand on you. In fact, I think Peri was ready to fight the Diamonds regardless.”

“That sounds like her.”

“Anyway, you should outsource some of your worrying to me, now that I’m here. I have four thousand years more experience when it comes to worrying, you know.”

For the first time since being seized by Morganite police, Connie was starting to feel like things might turn out okay. “I’ll try.”


End file.
